25th Anniversary Celebration of Local Hospice Services Lawn Party and Wine Auction

For immediate release...

The Chester River Health Foundation will celebrate 25 years of locally available hospice services with a lawn party and wine auction on Sunday, October 24, 2010 from 3:00 pm until 6:00 pm, at historic Brittland Manor, just outside of Chestertown.

While many changes, both big and small, have occurred over these last 25 years in hospice care, the core mission has remained the same: to serve individuals nearing the end of life’s journey, their families and their friends with compassion, respect and dignity. Comprehensive hospice services are made possible in our community due to the generous donations of many. Hospice care is a special service that touches many lives, and the contributions of community members have provided the means to develop services that have helped their neighbors and friends.

“We want people to understand that our service belongs to the community—hospice is wherever our patients and families need us to be,” said Cindy Bach, director of Chester River Home Care & Hospice.

Dr. Patrick Shanahan, medical director of hospice, will speak at the event. His passion for hospice and willingness to donate his time stems from personal experiences with the program. His story, which will no doubt resonate with many others, demonstrates the importance of hospice on both a personal level, and a community level.

Judie Willock, an early board member who is very passionate about hospice, cites her experiences with hospice during her mother and father-in-law’s passing as her inspiration for becoming involved. “I had such great experiences during those difficult times in my life and marveled at the dedication of the hospice workers. During my time on the board, I wanted to make sure that same experience was truly available to everyone,” commented Willock.

Guests at the 25th anniversary celebration will enjoy a buffet of savory hot and cold hors d’oeuvres, bite-size desserts and coffee service provided by Jeff Carroll of Amuse Bouche, a local caterer. Background music by Meredith Davies Hadaway and Tom Anthony will feature a variety of string and wood instruments. A full cash bar will be available.

To accompany this milestone celebration, a wine auction will feature select bottles of red and white wines, as well as champagne and specialty wines. The bottles will be randomly numbered. Each guest who purchases a wine auction ticket will receive a “numbered wine cork,” which entitles them to “win” a bottle of wine.

Quail Run of Millington has donated flowers that will be custom arranged by Flower Power in Chestertown. The flower arrangements will be given away as door prizes.

To purchase tickets or to donate a bottle of wine for the auction, please contact Maryann Ruehrmund, director of the Chester River Health Foundation at 410-810-5661. Tickets for the lawn party are $50 each and include food and entertainment. Guests will need to purchase a separate ticket for the wine auction, which are $50 each. If you cannot attend, please feel free to call the Foundation office to learn about other ways you can support Chester River Home Care & Hospice.

The Chester River Health Foundation is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization, which raises funds that steward the future of health care excellence for the people served locally by the Chester River Hospital Center, Chester River Manor, and Chester River Home Care & Hospice.